Conventional appliances, including clothing washers, clothing dryers, dishwashers, microwave ovens, etc., are a mainstay in residential housing and/or commercial operations across the world and often used daily. In some instances, these appliances may occupy a large area of a small room, e.g., a clothing washer and clothing dryer in a laundry room, which leaves a user a small area to maneuver.
Many of these appliances have an interior compartment where items operated upon by the particular appliance are placed. For example, a clothing washer may include a washing drum to place a load of laundry for washing and a clothing dryer may include a drying tumbler to place the load of laundry for drying. Similarly, an oven may include a cooking chamber to place a bag of popcorn for cooking. Access to these various types of interior compartments is generally provided through apertures, which are typically sealed or otherwise closed through the use of hinged doors.
Hinged doors, however, present a number of drawbacks in many appliance applications. First, hinged doors swing open on a rotational axis and require a swing clearance. The required swing clearance further limits the user's already small area to maneuver. Second, hinged doors are more susceptible to damage when they are in an opened position. Possible damage may result from an inadvertent force being placed on the hinged door, e.g., a person leaning on the hinged door in the open position, or deterioration of an exposed seal due to opening and closing the hinged door.
Moreover, when the user opens a hinged door of an appliance, the user's hands are likely pre-occupied with what they will put in the interior compartment of the appliance. For example, if the user is transferring a load of laundry from a clothing washer to a clothing dryer, then the user will have to manually open the doors to both the clothing washer and clothing dryer and transfer the load. The open doors may be cumbersome and obstruct the path of transferring the load from the clothing washer to the clothing dryer. Additionally, if the user forgets to open the door to the clothing dryer after removing the load from the clothing washer, then the user must place the load back into the clothing washer before transferring the load of laundry.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for overcoming the issues of existing appliances.